


Any Port In a Storm

by Magiccloser



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: :'), F/M, Father-Son Relationship, M/M, Young Jack Sparrow, here I am finally brave enough, i lov teague so much and I thought there are no good works out there with him so, this is my first story please go easy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-02 07:04:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10939431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magiccloser/pseuds/Magiccloser
Summary: She looked at him as if he was made of the rarest most precious metal in the world, she brushed a dusky hand over his small head and whispered into his little ear, the other hand she held out to Teague, who warily approached the bed.Captain Edward Teague, of The Misty Lady, never formed much of a positive opinion on children, that is til he had one himself, this story seeks to explore the relationship of a VERY young jack, and his poor overworked father.OBS! Any Port In A Storm is a working title and may change!





	1. Becoming a father.

Any port in a storm  
As a rule Captain Edward Teague was not overly fond of children, that be weather they were sired by him or some other unrelated party, children were a besotted burden sent by the powers to vex men and women alike, loud they were, loud, dirty, and demanding, aye a child be a burden. 

Or so he’d thought, it was really quite ironic that a man so obsessed with freedom as he, would find himself standing by the birthing bed of a southern whore whom he had happened upon one particularly stormy day in Tortuga.  
The woman was bathed in her own sweat, blood, and probably tears, it was hard to say. Teague considered petting her, but decided against it, women when they are not shoving a melon sized being trough their rear-end, are frightening, as she lay now, the mother of his child was terrifying, she had a crazed wild look in her eyes, and she was yelling various colourful obscenities at the midwife, who untouched by the wild mood of the birthing woman, barked instructions to a chubby cheeked apprentice.  
Children were terrifying, and so were births Teague thought, when a small head became visible between his lover’s legs, the body soon followed, tiny shrivelled and caked in blood, Teague’s first look at his son, really was quite underwhelming, the boy was smaller than average, dark eyed and toothless. The midwife wiped him down with a damp cloth, cut the umbilical cord, and handed the dirty screamer to his mother. 

She looked at him as if he was made of the rarest most precious metal in the world, she brushed a dusky hand over his small head and whispered into his little ear, the other hand she held out to Teague, who warily approached the bed.   
“what will we name him” she asked, her face was tired and shiny, a glinting sheen of sweat on her forehead and cheeks gave her a vaguely angelic look, as the oil lamp reflected off her damp skin. He had not thought of that, the boy didn’t look like something that had a name, and yet he would need one, completely blank for ideas he looked into her eyes, “I have no clue,” he said. And so it came to be that the boy, for the first few days of his life, had no name.   
About a week after his birth, Teague got drunk, this really wasn’t a novelty, he often got drunk, after all a pirate captain has a certain image to uphold, it seemed to be a night like any other, he’d found a tavern with a couple of the men from his crew, and together they had soon drained a keg and a half. It was not till later that night when a charming fellow with eyes dark as coal, joined the small collection of men, that the night took a turn for the interesting. Teague was not adverse to bedding men, really he’d bed anyone if he was honest, so bed the stranger he did, it really was quite pitiful he later thought when he named his son after him, that little Jack owed not only existence but also his name to two dark eyed whores. 

As fate would have it the moment Teague’s dear old mother got news of Jack’s existence, she demanded he be sent to Shipwreck cove to grow up among the rest of her grandkids, mostly children of Teague’s siblings. He considered briefly to ignore her wishes and bring the kid to sea with him, but Jack was small still, and the sea was no place for a baby, at least not till said baby could do a bit of looking after himself, so Teague took the child and his mother, and brought them on the Troubadour to Shipwreck cove.   
Jack grew fast, or maybe Teague was gone for long stretches of time, either way, whenever he made berth at the overfilled harbour in Shipwreck cove, his son seemed to have grown and learned. This visit, Jack came running at him on chubby legs, he screamed delightedly, as children who have not quite learned to talk yet are known to do. Teague snatched him up and held him on his hip, as Jack cheerfully began pulling at his braids, indubitably enamoured with the many shiny trinkets Teague over the years had braided into said hair.  
As he carried Jack through the halls of the Teague Family home, he considered Jack’s maturity, he wanted to take the boy to sea as soon as possible, Jack was old enough to run and babble, perhaps with a nursemaid it could work, he mulled it over as he approached his Mother’s chambers, his mother was a frightful old lady with very little patience for anyone, except for Jacks cousin Valerie, for whom she seemed to have infinite love and patience to give. His mother had just concluded business it seemed, because when Teague entered the Pirate lord of the Northern Seas stood up from a chair and moved towards the door, he was a tall man, and ironically not at all northern, Teague didn’t know him well, but according to rumours he was the son of a Greek merchant sailor who had lived and died in a small Danish fishing village, as he moved past Teague, he got a decisive whiff off brine and smoked meat.   
Teague approached his mother who, had not said a single word whilst the Northern Pirate Lord had left. “Edward,” she said acknowledging his presence, “Mother” he answered studying her grey wrinkled face, she looked old and frail, but in her eyes burned an unmistakably strong flame, “You had dealings with the Northern Lord?” he wasn’t really interested, but he had to talk about something, “Aye” she said “He wanted me to rear his daughter, there is not much meat on that girl’s bones so I said no.” It wasn’t uncommon for Pirates to leave their children in her care, for longer or shorter periods, she was looking after a number of children as things were now, most of them were children of crewmembers from either Teague’s or his Siblings’ ships. “Apropos children, Ma, I was thinking I’ll take Jack to sea,” his mother’s eyebrows shot up, “You will take him to sea?” “aye, Jack is old enough now, I won’t have him grow soft like some sad milksop” His mother nodded, her bony hand stroking her chin thoughtfully, “Jack barely be speaking, and yet I agree, this is the best decision for the boy.”   
Teague’s mother did not have much left to say after her shockingly blasé release of control over Jacks upbringing, perhaps she suspected that, her son would grow tired of running after an infant, and soon return him to her, or perhaps she was simply glad to be a burden free, if he was honest, which he very rarely was, Teague did not care much for his mother’s underlying musings, when he carried Jack on one arm and a large supply sack in another, onto his boat, Jack pointed a chubby finger at a bypassing seagull and chirped happily. “Aye” Teague said, half to himself, half to the boy “the love of the sea be in ya.”


	2. sweaty sailors and canon fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crewmembers were hasting to the deck all standing attentively looking towards the Captain who held a dastardly smile on his face, he turned his face towards the look-out post; “BE THEY NAVY SAILS M’BOY?!”

The sea gleamed white in the harsh midday sun, azure horizon turned into a blinding split between sea and sky, there was almost no wind and the sails hung limply, from time to time a small breeze rolled in and the sails would briefly reinvigorate, but the breeze was gone as fast as it had arrived. The crew were stagnating too, a few diligent deckhands were retying knots, swabbing the deck, or otherwise maintaining the ship. One deckhand in particular had his hands busy trying to argue the important point to another, that “yes potatoes were in fact the miraculous cure to scurvy and would he please just listen and put away his dried meat.” Teague blinked against the harsh sun, his wide-brimmed hat cast an impressive shadow over his dark eyes, the horizon was as clear as clear, not a single merchant ship to board, or a navy ship to tussle with. They had been about a week underway, and in this week the most remarkable thing that had happened was Jack arguing arduously with his nurse “maid,” one Mr. Joshamee Gibbs, that he would in fact not take a midday nap, Teague had stuffed a cloth dipped in rum in his mouth and Jack had fallen fast asleep not long after. 

Teague looked upwards, he’d been staring at the sea now for a couple of minutes and decided that it was time to stare at something in a slightly different shade of blue, a crewmember tasked with keeping lookout’s head was resting limply on the side of the lookout barrel, and Teague felt a rising suspicion that the man, might be asleep, “Mr. Nielson!” he bellowed, summoning a young barefaced ship-hand, they had picked him up last time they made port in Tortuga, he had been skulking about “The Virtuous Bride”, and had stupidly attempted to pocket one of the crewmember’s coin sack, he’d had no better place to go so he’d begged for forgiveness and joined the crew. Now he stood bright-eyed and alert, regarding Teague expectantly, “Aye sir!” he said loudly, slightly out of breath from his quick run to the Captains side, “go see what Rob’s doing in tha’ere looksee barrel,” Teague gestured vaguely at the look-out post, “Aye Sir!” Nielson said enthusiastically and shot off towards the post. Teague looked after his dark silhouette as it quickly approached the barrel, Nielson crawled over the edge, rubbed his eyes, snatched the telescope from somewhere on the floor of the barrel, put it to his left eye and then yelled as loud as his cracking voice could, “WHITE SAILS! WHITE SAILS ON THE HORIZON!” The crew sprang into action, Nielson kicked the still sleeping Rob who groggily sat up. Crewmembers were hasting to the deck all standing attentively looking towards the Captain who held a dastardly smile on his face, he turned his face towards the look-out post; “BE THEY NAVY SAILS M’BOY?!” Nielson, who did not yet know the difference, clumsily handed the telescope to Rob who sluggishly put it for one eye, and scouted the horizon, he lowered the telescope and yelled to the men below “AYE CAP’N, THAT THEY BE!” Teague’s face split from an expectant smile to a face cracking grin, his golden teeth gleamed in the sunlight, “HOW MANY?!” Rob looked again, “TWO, SIR, AN’ THEY BE COMING THIS’A’WAY FAST!” Teague didn’t waste a moment, “ON DECK YOU SCABEROUS DOGS! SECURE THE RIGGING, READY THE CANNONS, AND READY YERSELVES!” the crew bustled about, the gunmen ran to the canon deck, the strongest and most fearless of the crew readied rope for boarding the navy vessels. Teague’s ship was strong and fast, many times she had handled up to four navy vessels at a time. “MR. GIBBS,” Teague yelled for the mutton-chopped pirate, who scurried up the stairs so he stood face to face with the excited captain, he wiped sweat of his red brow, and then wiped his hand on his trousers, “take Jack to the galley, I reckon that be the safest spot on The Lady, at this ‘ere time,” Gibbs nodded and wiped his face again, “aye cap’n,” with that the portly man hasted past Teague, and into the Captain’s cabin, where Jack had been put down for a nap.

Gibbs ran as fast as he could, whilst keeping the child somewhat safe past the hubbub on deck, the men were shouting at each other, laughing, and singing, they sang and old Pirate’s shanty, no one in the crew possessed a very lovely voice and those who were singing were blending together in a half singing half yelling, toneless display of buccaneer excitement, “We’re DEVIiiIILSss! We’reeeE blAck SheEEEeeep, WE’RE REALLY BAD EeeeGGS.” The approach of the navy vessels was a welcome break to the stagnant sea and bored faces, the sun reflected of the newly washed deck and the sweaty tanned backs of Teague’s crew, it burned strong as ever, some backs were red rather than tan, hinting that the owner might not be fit for seafaring.

Jack reached out his hands, eyes big with wonder, he laughed and squealed loudly at the wild running about, Gibbs clumsily patted his large rough hand over Jacks dark haired head, and muttered something under his breath. They reached the stairs to the galley, far below deck in the middle of the ship, as far out of reach of canons as any place on the ship could be. The galley was surprisingly large, a stove and a large table, several barrels and sacks lined the walls, about half-a-dozen oil lamps were hung above the walls, bathing the room in a faint orange glow, had it not been for the heat from the stove the galley would have been unbearably cold, far away from the sun as it were. The ship-cook, was excitedly readying himself, he ran about grabbing his things haphazardly, a knife, a gun, a cutlass, he hadn’t noticed Gibbs and Jack yet, and was muttering eagerly to himself in his own language, Gibbs had not the slightest idea where the man came from, but it was somewhere exotic cause he cooked like no other ship-cook Gibbs had sailed with before. The cook’s eyes fell on Gibbs and Jack as he turned to walk up the stairs, and join the vigorous tumult on deck, he blinked twice, perhaps embarrassed Gibbs had heard him talking to himself, or maybe surprised any man would hide from the impending dance with the Navy, he then shrugged, and looked Gibbs in the eyes “you don’t touch my stoves, savvy?” Gibbs barely managed a nod before the cook had pushed past him, and was lumbering up the stairs as fast as he could manage, heavily strapped with weapons as he was.  
The galley smelled wonderfully of various spices, and despite the cook’s warnings, Gibbs put jack on the floor, to go have a gander at the food brewing in the large bellied cauldron the cook had left simmering over the stove, the compound was a brownish-red thick soup, with pieces of dried meat, and potatoes, onions, and carrots floating in it. Gibbs took a long whiff, then looked at Jack, “ye wouldnae’ tell on me would ya’?” Jack as expected did not answer he just stared at Gibbs, like any decent baby would, Gibbs nodded contently, and plunged the ladle into the soup.  
On Deck, the Navy ships had gained fast on The Misty Lady and were viewable from the deck, Teague’s men were yelling, snarling, grinding their teeth, and otherwise psyching themselves up the battle, the sun baked overhead, and reflected off the raised cutlasses of the pirate crew, as they waved them in the air. Teague was a formidable sight to behold as he stood tall by the rudder, one hand was resting on his left sword, the other on his pistol, he kept a sword and a pistol on each hip, always prepared. The many trinkets in his hair and on his person gleamed wildly in the sun, the rings on his fingers dazzled, he looked every bit the fearful pirate captain he was. The sky was still cloud-free and the day had reached its peak, the sun stood straight in the middle of the sky curve, and reflected off the sea blinding Pirates and Navy men alike.  
The Navy vessels crept up on each side of The Misty Lady, the Union Jack flown overhead gave them an awesome air of justice and rightness, the men who manned the HMS Mary and HMS Bodacious, stood tall and proud at their posts, their red jackets shone vibrantly in the sun, they stood at ease, yet ready for action, their faces like stone unperturbed by the taunting of the pirate crews’ numerous insults. The two navy ships were identical right down to the smallest fleck of paint on the railing, at the helm of each stood a Navy captain, each prouder than the last, the impressive sails were blindingly white in the harsh sunlight. Teague wasn’t particularly impressed with the arrival of the Navy ships, he left the rudder to his coxswain, and sauntered from the steering platform to the middle of the deck with his men, he still had his hands placed calmly on a weapon each, “Gentlemen!” he shouted his crew whooped loudly, “Gentlemen” Teague continued, he caught the eye of the navy captain who headed the ship that had crept up on them on the starboard side, The navy captain looked at him like he was worse than dirt under his pristinely polished boots, his nostrils flared slightly, Teague smiled charmingly, and took his hat off with a mocking sweeping motion, as he bowed deeply for the Navy captain, “Gentlemen, and the Navy” the other captain’s face contorted into an offended irate expression, he opened his mouth to yell, but before he could bark out his orders, the man in front of him clutched his chest and fell backwards. Teague blew the smoke from the end of his gun, raised the arm he held his cutlass in and roared “OPEN FIRE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is the second chapter!! Im really into whatever that cook made, I wanna have a bowl..  
> I wanted to have Teague kill that navy soldier so we remember he is in fact a murderer and has numerous crimes on his record, he may be semi good to Jack but he's no angel lol


	3. Patriots are ever so boring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teague got captured and what an unhappy situation, Captain whatever his name was again, happens to like monologues...

The air around the three ships exploded with noise, ear-tearing explosions filled the air, the three ships were shrouded in the dark smoke from the canon fire, the cannoneers were working hard, yelling at each other, on all three ships, Pirates and navy men alike were fighting to the extend of their skills. On The deck of the Misty Lady Teague was locked in a sword battle with two navy soldiers, he used both his swords, a useful technique he’d learned in Singapore, his adversaries were both grinding their teeth together in deep concentration, sweat was dripping from their brows, Teague as always looked calm and collected, an attitude that was both remarkable and infuriating. He fenced with the two men as easily as if he’d been playing a game with Jack, he wasn’t putting his heart into the fight, only fighting them with half an eye on the two navy soldiers, he was more concerned with the sun in his eyes.   
Below deck in the galley, Jack was playing with a spoon, seemingly completely unstartled by the hubbub above, he was sat on the floor, and had been since Gibbs discovered not only the delicious stew left by the cook, but also a bottle of rum of considerable size. Gibbs had already eaten 3 bowls of the stew, and he’d drunk considerably more rum that one would consider healthy, especially when he was supposed to be taking care of a baby, he slurred his words as he decided to enlighten Jack on the intricate moral calculations he’d done in order to justify eating three bowls of the food that was meant for the entirety of the crew, and it’s captain, whom Gibbs at this moment preferred not to think about, Teague would sure as sure be quite miffed at the prospect of Gibbs making a dent in not only the dinner rations, but also the rum rations.  
There was a large crash not far from the galley, telling Gibbs that somewhere not far away a cannonball had hit the ship, this noise did prove too much for Jack who picked this exact moment to let out a bloodcurdling scream, Gibbs was thankful for the battle on deck, or some attentive Nay man might have heard and would have gone to search the hull, Gibbs sighed and dipped his handkerchief in the rum bottle like Teague had done on occasion when settling Jack, and stuffed it in the child’s mouth.   
Above Deck, the situation was beginning to look like a headache Teague thought grimly as another wave of Navy soldiers stormed the deck, his crew had been fighting hard, and were fighting hard still. Although the situation looked annoying he wasn’t too worried there were ways one could escape a navy vessels should one be captured, he considered his options, the air was thick with canon smoke, and he really didn’t appreciate the idea of more cannonballs making contact with The Lady’s hull, especially not with his progeny tucked away inside. He didn’t get much farther in his musings before he felt the unmistakable sharp point of a sword in his back, he turned his head slowly, staring into the powdered face of one of the Navy Captains, the Captain panted and smiled victoriously, “tell you men to cease fire and give up you dirty pirate,” Teague calmly returned the smile and put his hands up, “That’d be hard ‘ere cap’n as I can’t yell over yer cannon fire.” His captor smirked “It’s that or I gut you right here in front of your crew,” Teague wasn’t worried, not in the slightest, he knew the English navy had an unfaltering need to brag whenever they caught a pirate, and if the Navy ever did take his life, it would be the hangman’s noose and that would be publicly and in front of as large an audience they could amass. Yet he did think it wise not to provoke the enemy Captain, so he waved his raised hands in mock defeat and roared as loud as he could muster, “CEASE FIRE,” a crewman hidden somewhere below in the smoke from the cannon fire repeated his words just as loudly, the message travelled swiftly through the ship, mere minutes after Teague’s initial yell, The Misty Lady had ceased her fire, The Navy Ships soon followed, leaving a sudden deafening silence, the cannon smoke soon cleared revealing once again the brilliant blue colour of the cloudless Caribbean sky, Teague’s men immediately ceased fighting and put their hands up when they spotted their captain, with a Navy sword in his back, yet none were worried as he stood relaxed and calmly as always, regarding his crew with a careful calculating gaze, one after one Teague’s men dropped their weapons, and put their hands in the air. The members of Teague’s crew were unceremoniously one after one pushed aboard the HMS Bodacious, her Captain stood by the railing keeping a wary eye on the crew of dirty, smelly, lawless men. Captain Teague had been captured by the navy more times than he cared to remember, they usually spent a half a day in the paws of some fame-hungry, idealistic general, who thought he’d bring glory to his name by capturing one of the pointiest thorns-in-the-side of the English crown. Often his crews’ escape was aided by greasing the palms of a morally conspicuous soldier.   
The HMS Bodacious’ captain, was unhappily for Teague and his men, an insufferable braggart, who wished to gloat his victory over the degenerate scourge of the sea, not only to his own men, and the men of the ally navy ship, HMS Mary, he also wished to gloat his victory to Teague himself. Such longwinded speeches, that often had the main theme of honour, religion duty, king and country, bored Teague to no end, he had yet not heard a single navy captain bring anything new to the endless mix of tedious patriotic drivel. There he stood, feet and hands bound, not too tightly, but tight enough to be bothersome, he was facing his crew, who seemed to be exactly as bored as he was, listening to the self-righteous speech of Captain Whatsit, even the navy men seemed rather put out by the prospect of listening to their dear Captain go on for much longer. 

Captain Whatsit was pacing around in front of Teague, gesticulating wildly each time he made a particularly interesting point against the filthy, morally-despicable life of a pirate “Men like these have forsaken king and country! They laugh in the face of the good God who breathed life in us all, they shack up with cheap painted whores and mystics, men like these have no place in the world of righteous men.” Teague thought he was so far up his own behind he might taste his breakfast, he considered pointing it out, for the joy of his crew, and probably the secret joy of the Navy crews as well, but thought it wiser to wait, Captain Whatsits own words had whipped him into a self-justified rage, his face had taken on an alarming shade of red, Teague wondered aloud if it was the heat from the sun r the heat from his passionate love for the king. Captain Whatsit who had had his back turned to Teague before his expression of innocent wonder, turned faster than the crack of Davy Jones’ whip; “You! I have never known such.. such” spittle flew from his tight jaw, he was trying to speak whilst clenching his teeth, and it really made quite an entertaining sight, he pointed a trembling finger at Teague, who regarded him lazily through his kohl-lined eyes, “I HAVE NEVER KNOWN SUCH INSOLENCE!” Captain Whatsit had leaned in till his face was so close to Teague’s, if Teague had poked out his tongue, he would have hit the furious other Captains face, Teague blinked twice, “my dear Captain, while I’m flattered, your breath smells worse than m’ baby boy when he’s been makin’ a mess” he smiled, his many golden teeth caught the sunlight, and reflected off the outraged Captain Whatsit’s face, which impressively had gone an even more alarming shade of red, “so I would appreciate it, if we could get this little speech over with and you could get on with it and lock me and my crew up, savvy?” Teague’s crewmen laughed uproariously, the Redcoats scrambled to silence them, they tugged on the ropes and pointed their muskets a little more threateningly. “Very well” Captain Whatsit said icily after composing himself, he turned away from Teague again, and spoke to two stone-faced soldiers who had been making sure Teague’s bonds were secure, “take them all to the brigg, and put him in with his crew, we don’t give special treatment to dogs like him,” he smirked at Teague, “let’s see how your crew likes you after you’ve led them to the gallows,” Teague took it rather calmly, “I should think they will like me just fine Captain,” he said as he was forcibly shoved forward by the two soldiers behind him, towards the brigg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vvvv SPOILERS FOR POTC 5 BELOW vvvv
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> I really really enjoyed deadmen tell no tales, especially the scene with young Jack <3, I was so excited the whole time, he really was on the wicked wench, Teague really was standing behind him when the crew made him captain, I wonder if he was proud, he probably was :D


	4. In which Gibbs slaps a saucy sailor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jail sucks boy

Teague had been right, his crew was as cheerful, loud and rambunctious as any man with complete faith in his captain would be in their situation, they had all been locked in the ships’ brig, half on each side of the hull. Teague was leaning against the wall, he knew his crew well, so he knew with a fair amount of certainty and good faith that within the next couple of minutes a fight would break out, and he had very little interest in being the middle of the overfilled cell when that happened.  
Gibbs of course had noticed the sudden silence, and based on his experience, he was quite sure it meant his shipmates had been led aboard a navy ship, which meant two things, the first being he had to probably stop eating from the stew, as his mates, indubitably would be starving when they returned from their brief capture, and the second being, Jack’s safety, often when Teague’s men had been captured by the navy they’d bribe their way out, and the captain of whatever ship had captured them would either not notice at all, or he would try desperately to recapture them, IF this captain decided to try and recapture Teague and his crew, they’d probably sneak onto The Lady, some way or another, meaning Gibbs couldn’t be sure they would sneak past the galley and find an innocent baby in the claws of a notorious pirate captain, and there was also the possibility they’d see Jack as a future threat to the crown and kill the child, Gibbs had seen it happen before, and he wasn’t about to draw Teague’s fatherly wrath upon himself should he be the reason for a blood thirsty navy soldier finding Jack. Gibbs scratched the back of his head in deep thought, he considered hiding Jack somewhere in the galley, but he assumed would be unwise, if Jack made a noise of any kind the Navy men would hear him. 

He then considered taking Jack above deck and hiding him in Teague’s cabin, but there were two faults in this particular plan, one being, Teague was very particular about who entered his cabin and when, the second being, Gibbs wasn’t sure the deck of The Misty Lady wasn’t overrun with Navy guard-posts. He couldn’t very well hide Jack bellow though, as he feared the Navy might start firing at The Misty Lady again. He couldn’t be sure the navy had though far enough to post men on deck, it would be a gamble, but he had to go see if there was anyone above deck.   
Teague had been absolutely right in his prediction, the already overfilled and small brigg had become unbearable to stand in, the crew were pushing, shoving, kicking, punching, biting and otherwise attacking each other. Teague knew they did it mostly to annoy the guards, who each time they had been captured without fail got annoyed very quickly, already the guards had banged on the bars twice, he was a young man with a frightened skittish gait, Teague thought he would be the key to their escape. The boy tried to act with an authority he did not have. Even though he was in charge of guarding the Brigg and thereby morally worth much more than the entirety of Teague’s crew put together in the eyes of the English crown, he didn’t possess the ability to properly control the men, each time he banged on the bars his hands trembled, and each time he yelled for the prisoners to be quiet his voice cracked, Teague thought he would be easily bribed, kidnapped or killed, whichever would get them out most effectively.   
Gibbs had left Jack under the large table in the middle of the galley just to be safe he’d made sure Jack wouldn’t wake and start screaming, he’d made absolutely certain the boy was suckling on the rum soaked handkerchief before leaving, Gibbs hurried as silently as he could muster through the underdeck, he could neither see nor hear any evidence of a navy presence on The Lady, but he’d learned through his years of sailing to question everything, often if things went too smoothly there was an underlying unpleasantness waiting for him. He carefully crawled up the stairs that led above deck, so that he could remain hidden whilst peeking at the deck, sure enough two navy soldiers were standing next to each other at the sternpost, he cursed under his breath, and turned to scour the rest of the deck, as far as his eye could see, there were only the two soldiers at the stern to worry about, and they had their backs turned. Gibbs wasn’t sure how he’d tackle the problem of the two men, he wasn’t much of a sharpshooter so shooting them was a gamble, of course he could sneak up on them and slit their throats but, he wasn’t really overly fond of killing people, especially not if he had to get their sticky blood on him, and there was always the risk of one of them yelling and alerting the navy ship, he knew what he had to do. He sighed heavily and moved below deck to find a weapon and crawled up the stairs, the night was as always mild and pleasant, the sweltering heat of the day had been overtaken by the gentle moonbeams, and the ship was bathed in a soft blueish light from the moon. The two navy men were staring at the sea, talking to each other in hushed tones, there was no one else aboard but they felt it would be wrong to break the serene silence of the gentle night, there wasn’t a single wind moving, they felt like they were the only two people on earth, sealed in a peaceful bubble, the previous unease they had both felt at being aboard the ship of a notorious pirate had settled with the sinking sun over the horizon and now nothing was left in their hearts but a mellow tranquillity. Gibbs crept up till he was right behind them, they hadn’t noticed him yet, which he honestly thought was a testament to the decline of the English Navy’s standards, “evening Gentlemen,” he said brusquely and hit each of them over the back of their head with a heavy bottle of rum, they barely managed to be surprised by the attack before biting the deck, Gibbs uncorked the bottle and took a hearty sip before using a thick rope he’d brought with him to tie them in their hands and feet, he then dragged them one after another as fast as he could manage to the mast, he rested their backs against the pole and tied another thick roped around them to the mast, “at ease gentlemen” he said and took another sip of the rum, he wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and returned below deck to fetch Jack. 

Teague’s crew had managed to engage the skittish shaking boy charged with guarding them in a game of proverbial “cat after mouse,” the men were locked in tightly but they kept pushing their hands out through the bars grasping after the frightened boy who was nervously clutching his musket, “s-stop it!” he demanded meekly, which only served to further energise the pirate crew, renegade rob, who had fallen asleep atop the crow’s nest, and manoeuvred cumbersomely across the cell to Teague’s side, “I think he’s about ripe fer ya cap’n” Rob said casually, Teague who had been smoking on a long ornate pipe, took it from his mouth and stroked his goatee, he pondered for a second before nodding, “aye,” he muttered, he then cleared his throat louder than he’d spoken and loudly said “Aye lads that’s enough, cant ye see the poor boy’s frighten’d,” his crew immediately ceased their bullying and withdrew into the darkness of the cell, allowing Teague to walk along the front to where the mousy boy was standing. The boy eyed him precariously, and took a small step backwards, despite the bars separating them, Teague imposed a fearsome impressive sight; the boy let his eyes slide up and down the pirate captain, and found himself surprised at how young he was, he had only seen Teague from a distance, and under all the eye paint, beard, hair and trinkets, Teague was quite young, it seemed, the boy had expected him to be at least as old as the Captain of the HMS Bodacious, but it seemed now that he was only a few years older than himself.  
How had a man who upon close inspection seemed to be no older than at most twenty-five managed to amass such a huge bill to settle with the English King, he thought. Teague smiled charmingly at the boy who had been studying him intently for a while, his gold tooth caught the weak light from the oil lamp that burned just above the door. The boy gulped, Edward Teague may be only a few years older than himself but he carried himself with such a calm authority, he felt much younger than the pirate. “Listen here lad,” Teague said, he curled his hands around the bars, on each of his fingers he wore ornate rings that shone in the weak golden light.  
“I’ve got me son aboard me ship over there, an’ he’s all alone,” The boy blinked nervously, Teague calmly leaned onto the bars resting most of his weight on them, ad continued “He’s just a little baby, cute as a seaturtle,” from the crew came scattered expressions of agreement, one man yelled “I think he’s cute as a cuttlefish,” Teague looked in the direction of the voice closed his eyes and nodded, he then turned his head and looked into the eyes of the guard boy, “He’s all on his onesies, and his mother’s dead, so I have to take him with me,” the crew sighed and the same man yelled again “It’s so sad, tragic really.” The boy still said nothing, the cogs and gears in his head were churning, “w-we have men on you ship sir, t-they can fetch him, I promise he will be taken c-care off,” he offered. Teague shook his head gravely in mock exasperation, “listen here lad, you and I both know the moment your Captain Terrible-breath, sees my boy he will kill him under the guise of the future security of the sea.” The boy thought for a second before hanging his head, “I know” he muttered, he felt torn, Teague was a high value prisoner, a man with a bounty of over a hundred pieces of gold on his head, but he was the only parent of a boy, who right now, was completely alone, he felt torn and troubled, on one hand the navy could always try and capture the pirate captain again when the boy was older and could fend for himself, and on the other hand, it had been terribly difficult to capture him this time, and if he let Teague go free, he’d certainly be in a world of trouble. Teague seemed to have read his mind because he smiled kindly at the boy, “what be yer name lad?” he asked, “Jonathan Miller,” he said, he was looking at his hands, picking at the skin around his nails nervously, “Right then Mr. Miller, should you unlock this here gate and procure us safe passage to me ship, I swear on me good name, we will take ya in, seeing as you would already be a pirate in the eyes of your king for heling us,” Jonathan was quiet for a long while, Teague’s keen eyes bore into him, he bit his lip, Teague’s offer was good, he’d have somewhere to stay and someone who would look out for him, but he would never be able to return home again, It wasn’t like he had much to return home to, his mother was long dead, and his father had sailed away one day and never returned, his siblings were all grown up and spread throughout England, some serving as farmhands, some in the fine households of the aristocrats, even if he didn’t help out the Captain, there was very little chance he’d ever even return to England, it was quite likely he’d be stationed in some English port as guard for the rest of his days. When he thought about that, his future as a law-abiding man suddenly seemed quite dim and boring, he tried to imagine what it would be like sailing with the charming captain, who was staring at him so intently, he imagined running about the deck, singing pirate songs with the other crewmembers, he imagined playing with the boys who was cute as a sea-turtle, and maybe he would offer to teach him how to read, he thought of the wind in his hair as he crawled the ladder to the crow’s nest, he swallowed and looked determinedly into the eyes of Captain Teague, “I’ll help you and join your crew sir,” he said, Teague smiled broadly revealing several more golden teeth that each gleamed enticingly in the lamp light, Teague spit in his hand and pushed it out through the bars towards Jonathan, “Jonathan Miller” he said cheerfully “we have an accord, welcome aboard The Misty Lady,” Jonathan spat in his own hand and grabbed Teague’s outstretched hand “Thank you Captain.”  
Teague’s men hooted, albeit quietly as to not wake up the rest of the ship, Teague looked intently at Jonathan, “alright lad, how do you propose we best get out of ‘ere, remember, I ‘ave me son aboard The Lady so I’d best like to avoid a pursuit,” Jonathan nodded, “There are two guardsmen stationed right above deck, If I unlock the door I suppose one of you can sneak up and incapacitate them,” he said, Teague thought for a while and then nodded, “aye, that sounds clever” he whistled catching the attention of a dark haired dark skinned pirate, who snuck soundlessly across the brigg to Teague’s side, Teague turned to him “take a walk” he said his quietly, Jonathan unlocked the cell door, with a rush of adrenaline he saw saw the tall dark man creep past him, his footsteps didn’t make a single sound, it was like he was walking on the air right above the floor, instead of on the floor like everyone else. The rest of the crew made a move to start pushing out of the brigg, but Teague held one arm behind him with his hand flat against the men as if meaning to push them back into the dark, they stopped and waited.   
They all waited with bated breath for about five minutes, and then the tall dark man was back, he was dripping something red on the floor, even the drops of blood dripping from him made no sound when hitting the hardwood floor, he smiled at Teague his teeth unsettlingly white in the candle light “coast is clear Capitan,” he had a heavy accent that Jonathan couldn’t precisely recognise. Teague give sign for his men to start moving and they began silently shuffling out of the cell till they filled the small walk way between the two holding cells, “unlock the other cell” Teague whispered, Jonathan hurried through the crowd and turned the key in the lock, the walk space was so filled, the door couldn’t open yet, he hurried back to Teague’s side, and whispered “I propose we take the dinghies, and sail as many men as can fit in one across to The Misty Lady, and have these men sail her close to the HMS Bodacious, and the rest of the men can swing aboard, Teague nodded and made a movement with his hand telling the crew to follow, “lead the way Mr. Miller” he said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan is gay for Teague u didnt hearit from me


	5. Gibbs has two ready and packed sailors to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teague and his men sail across to the black pearl

As the night had gone on the air had become cooler, there still wasn’t any wind so Teague’s crew were relatively unbothered by the temperate night. Jonathan was walking, or rather sneaking alongside Teague, who even when he was hunched over slightly to make for a more quiet gait, radiated a self-confident and awe-inspiring aura.  
They made it to the side of the deck were the HMS Bodacious’ dinghies were hung, Teague gave sign with his index and pointer finger for the nearest ship-hands to start lowering them. The night provided very little cover, the sky was completely free of any clouds, and above them the sky was speckled with millions of faintly glowing stars, the only light, besides the moon, was a weak yellow glow from the Captain’s quarters; these exact quarters were making Jonathan more nervous than he would like to be, he kept fearing the captain would glance out of the windows and see the entirety of the captives escaping into the night, with a deserter, Jonathan was willing to bet that if his old Captain did see this, he wouldn’t bother with ferrying the Pirates, and Jonathan, to any English port before executing them.  
The ship hands had already lowered three dinghies of considerable size into the dark still water below, Teague rubbed his chin and then gave sign for them to lower three more. Jonathan was busy eyeing the crewmembers now, he wanted to really look at the men he’d just contracted himself into sailing with:  
There was Teague, of course, who Jonathan felt shy and stupid around, the same way he’d felt when he’d met an English Earl long ago. Then there was the dark man who had so silently dispatched over thirteen of Jonathan’s former comrades, he was standing completely still besides a short, sturdy man with his long dark hair kept in a scraggly plait, if it hadn’t been for the short, plaited man’s silent gesticulation, Jonathan would have never guessed he and the tall dark murderer were talking. The rest of the crew in Jonathan’s eyes all melted into one mass of dirty, raggedy pirates; he did however find himself fascinated by an incredibly fat angry man, who had both the ends of his moustache singed off, he was wearing a dirty spotted apron, and had a soup ladle mixed in with the rest of his weapons, which were numerous, despite the Navy men’s best attempts at confiscating all weaponry from the pirates.  
While Jonathan had been wondering, all the dinghies had been lowered, and Teague was gesturing lazily, but precisely, with his left ringed hand for the men to form groups and start climbing down, the crew moved quickly, shoving and pushing into each other, eliciting various soft spoken swears and curses. Jonathan was being pushed into from both sides as the crew hustled towards the edge to either jump into the water or to fasten ropes they could slide down. He looked around desperately trying to understand the situation, and determinedly praying in his mind that the crew would not wake up HMS Bodacious’ Captain, he felt a hand on his should pull him aside, it was the small man with the plait, next to him stood Teague, who was looking calm and collected, if even slightly bored, (Jonathan was beginning to suspect this was just the way his face was,) The tall dark man who was still damp with blood, an old woman with a weather-beaten face, who smiled at Jonathan showing off an incomplete set of teeth, were the few remaining were dark and uneven. 

Jonathan was sharing a boat with Teague, and the others who had drawn him from the bustling crowd, the boat was gently rocking on the still water, and the dark sea was a perfect reflection of the star covered sky, it felt unreal to sit in the little boat, Jonathan thought, he felt like he was floating somewhere out of time and place, where nothing could reach him, neither evil nor good.  
But something did reach him, Teague’s quiet voice disturbed him from his serene state of mind, and drew him quickly back to the gently rocking boat.  
“I said,” Teague said, “let me introduce you to the lads,”  
Jonathan blinked rapidly as if trying to fasten himself to the boat so that he wouldn’t float away into the hypnotic infinity of the many stars –  
“I’m sorry Captain, I’ve never seen anything like this before,”  
he explained, watching Teague closely, using the extravagant Captain as his own private anchor, keeping him grounded in reality,  
“Thas no matter boy”  
Teague said blasély and pointed at the old lady  
“Tha’ there’s Quickdraw McFlemming, me aunt, There be no faster sharpshooter in this side o’ the Caribbean,”  
Jonathan nodded to Mcflemming, who was once again smiling at him with her frightening teeth, Teague continued; this time he nodded towards the silent dark man,  
“tha’s Nino, found him in Puerto Rico I did, he makes excellent food, but the cookey will never let anyone but himself near the galley.”-  
Jonathan nodded at Nino too, who in response dipped his head a half centimetre, Jonathan took that as a friendly greeting.- finally Teague slapped his hand on the back of the short sturdy man, who smiled cheerfully at Jonathan, his teeth were alarmingly straight and well cared-for,  
“an’ this be Renegade Rob, he ain’t pretty and ‘e sleeps on the job but ‘e can spot a navy ship 50km that’a way,” Teague said proudly,  
“h-hi,”  
was all Jonathan could manage, and it was directed at everyone aboard.  
They sailed for a few minutes in silence, Teague had his eyes closed, and he was leaning back comfortably, despite there being no place to properly lean against, Renegade Rob was speaking to Nino in Spanish, and Nino, who was rowing, replied in short laboured grunts, Mcflemming was cleaning busy cleaning a pistol, which she had produced from a rather unsavoury place on her person. Jonathan was feeling nervous, and the silence, although broken with Nino and Renegade Rob’s conversation was starting to make him sweat, so he cleared his throat and looked at the Captain,  
“Captain?” –  
Teague opened one eye and peered at him from under his impressive hat- Jonathan continued,  
“how old is your son?”  
Teague looked helplessly at McFlemming, who was wiping the barrel of the gun with a dirty handkerchief, she looked up and smiled again,  
“Jackie?”  
Teague nodded, she tapped her chin with the gun “Ye brought Jackie home in the summer, an’ it be the summer now again, so I say one year,” Teague rubbed his chin and then nodded once,  
“aye, Jackie be one soon” - McFlemming was once again looking at her gun  
\- “bleedin’ shame about his mother, ain’t it Eddie,”  
“Aye”  
Teague said, Jonathan wanted ask what might have happened to “Jackie’s” mother, but the look on the Captain’s face told him it was best to wait. 

When he finally climbed back aboard The Misty Lady, the first thing Teague saw was Gibbs’ smiling mutton-chopped face waiting for him just above the reeling,  
“hi cap’n,”  
Gibbs said, offering Teague a hand, which he took, Gibbs pulled him over the reeling,  
“Hi master Gibbs”  
Teage said, straightening his hat, and brushing a little dust off his jacket. Gibbs gestured with his head towards the mast were two navy men were slowly coming too after, what Teague guessed was a bump on the head curtesy of Gibbs.  
– “Two navy soldiers for ye cap’n”  
Gibbs said, taking a large sip of rum,  
“What’ll ye have me do wif ‘em?”  
Teague wasn’t really in the mood for dealing with that right now, it was late, he was tired, and he wanted most of all, to his slight surprise, to see Jack. He bend over to pull his boots on properly  
– “Take Nino an’ put ‘em in the brigg, they’ll walk the plank tomorrow,” –  
he straightened up and stretched his back,  
“where be Jack?”-  
Gibbs who was already busy waving Nino to his side just gestured with his head in the direction of Teague’s quarters,  
“in yer Cabin sir.” –  
“thank ye master Gibbs, that be all.”  
Gibbs who was already about a metre on his way to meet Nino on the middle of the deck nodded and waved his hand dismissively.

Teague was quite happy to finally be alone and in peace, the men had cut the rope that secured The Lady to the HMS Bodacious and they had made away as fast as they could in the opposite direction of their navy friends. Teague had just closed the door behind him, and was hanging his hat on a nail on the door, he took off his boots too, and walked barefoot across the cabin to his desk, on which a half bottle of spiced rum and a half eaten piece of bread with cheese were left from his lunch, a lamp that hung just above the table was burning a little less brightly than he might have liked, so he lit another one that hung just on the other side of the table, now bathing the room in a soft yellow light.  
He’d hung his jacket across the back of his chair, which was a fine, ornately carved mahogany chair upholstered with red velvet, that his mum had pilfered from some Spanish pirate, who in turn had pilfered it from some aristo in Malaga.  
Teague rubbed the space between his eyebrows, he planned to chart a proper course and then turn in for the night, he was all set, when he heard a soft noise coming from Jack’s crib, which was standing against the foot of Teague’s own bed, if it had been a normal day, where he hadn’t just escaped a Navy ship he might have just left Jack with a rum-cloth and that would have been it, but todays wasn’t a normal day, and Jack had indirectly aided his and the crews’ escaped from the HMS Bodacious. He bend over the crib and gently took the child from it, Jack squealed happily at his father, and promptly wrapped his little fist around one of the braids in Teague’s wild hair,  
“Da!”  
he said cheerfully and then put his free hand against Teague’s chest, his brown eyes shone in the candlelight, and a little bit of drool was running down his mouth. Teague took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Jack’s chubby chin with it, he stroked his son’s soft dark haired head and spoke softly to him,  
“how was your day Jackie?”  
he said as he rocked Jack up and down gently, the boy didn’t answer perse he just softly repeated the words, day and Jackie (‘ahckii). Teague walked to the window that overlooked the deck and drew the curtain slightly so he could see, as he continued speaking to his son,  
“yer old da’s had a long day Jackie, the navy caught me and yer aunt and all the crew,” –  
“naiie” Jack repeated and tugged on Teague’s braid  
– “but some navy lad helped us get out,” Teague yawned “I reckon he could be useful dontcha agree?”  
Jack had snuggled closer to Teague’s chest and was nibbling at the folds of his shirt, “eat” Jack said decisively.

Teague was knocking on the cabin right next to his, the ship had four cabins above deck, but only three were in use and of those thee only two were inhabited, the largest, by himself and Jack, the other, and second largest by his aunt McFlemming. Who had only agreed to come because the milk in her breasts had never dried up, and Jack would need food. Otherwise, Teague knew she’d rather be sailing with her own ship, right now she was acting food storage for Jack, and first mate for Teague, and, he thought, she was an excellent shot, so she was quite useful in a brawl.  
She’d heard his knock and came to the door with her hair wild and unkempt, she’d obviously just tugged it out from the bun she usually kept it in, she was wearing an old stained satin robe, and a pair of slippers.  
“Eddie”-  
she said cheerfully when she saw Teague and Jack waiting on the other side of the door, -  
“and Jackie!”  
she said even more cheerfully as she reached out for Jack, who was reaching back towards her with his chubby little arms, Teague handed him to her, and she stepped aside so he could enter her cabin. 

After Jack had eaten and Aunt McFlemming had lectured Teague about leaving Jack with the drunken Mr. Gibbs, and Teague had apologised many times, with no intention of ever stopping using Gibbs’ excellent nanny services, Teague and Jack had left and were now back in Teague’s cabin. Jack was cuddled up close and his little back was rising and falling calmly and steadily, Teague could tell it was about time for him, and himself, to call it a night, if he could call it a night, the sun hadn’t quite risen yet but, he knew it wouldn’t be long till it broke over the horizon. He hummed and old pirate’s song that had originated long ago following the actions of the first Brethren Court, when he himself was just a small child, quietly for Jack who was already sleeping in his arms.  
“The king and his men, stole the queen from her bed…”  
He put Jack in his crib and stroked the boys chubby cheek with the pad of his thumb, he continued humming the song as he disrobed everything but his pants, turned off the oil-lamp and crawled into bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly just a filler chapter but I hope you guys enjoyed it :D
> 
> remember you can find me on twitter at @ao3MAGICCLOSER
> 
> and you can see my profile for an idea of what I will be writing next <3 :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading


	6. It's raining men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan has a rough first day of pirating

Jonathan awoke suddenly when the hammock he’d been sleeping in swung violently from side to side, there was a mighty bustle about below deck where Renegade Rob had instructed him to find an empty hammock, the men were running about: getting dressed, running to the galley to grab a bowl of porridge, or hustling above deck. Overhead he could hear the many footsteps pounding on the wooden floors, he felt like they were pounding inside his head.   
He groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes, his boots were sitting on the floor under the hammock, and his red uniform jacket was lying beside them, he felt a little strange, like he was beginning his life as a whole new person, technically he was, he had broken the law, he’d helped a notorious pirate captain escape, he was probably considered a traitor of the highest degree, that is if the Navy didn’t assume he’d been killed by Nino like the poor guards who were on duty the night of the escape. Jonathan preferred not to think about them, or their wives, or their children, or mothers, or sisters, his head was spinning at the mere thought of the countless hearts that might have been broken that night. He was dragging on his boots, when a pair of dirty, worn leather boots stopped in front of his hunched figure, he pulled his own boots on properly and then lifted his head to meet the eyes of the stranger, he was looking straight into the eyes of Nino, who as always looked bored and uninterested. Jonathan picked up his jacket and nervously stood up, Nino looked at him lazily then nodded his head slowly towards the stairs that led above deck:  
“captain says, you gotta pull your weight,”  
his words had a heavy accent to it, Jonathan couldn’t quite place it but he assumed it was Spanish of some sort. Jonathan regarded the tall dark man who was lazily twirling a lock of longish curly black hair among his thumb and pointer-finger.   
“right, uhm, what will he have me do?”  
Jonathan found Nino extremely intimidating, but he assumed it would be fruitless to just walk on deck and stares helplessly at the busy pirates. Nino just shrugged and continued twirling his hair;  
“I don’t know, I just say what Captain said”   
Jonathan shuffled his feet anxiously and brushed imagined dirt of his coat  
“oh right, I guess I’ll just make myself busy then…”  
He chuckled nervously, Nino looked him up and down with a calculating eye, before stopping his gaze on Jonathan’s shoulders.  
“you desert, and trait the navy”  
He said, taking a step forward towards Jonathan, he put both his hands on the shoulders of the red coat  
“I help you, tear your sleeves, as is tradition”  
Jonathan blinked rapidly, taken aback by Nino’s closeness, he couldn’t tell if he was being helpful and considerate or if he just was a stickler for traditions, or maybe he didn’t trust Jonathan and wanted to make sure he couldn’t run back to the navy. Jonathan took a small step backwards, but he didn’t make much way as Nino’s grip was strong and certain, either way it didn’t matter much to him weather his sleeves got torn, maybe it would help him let go entirely of the navy.   
He nodded at Nino, who smiled with his unsettlingly white teeth and started to tug downwards on Jonathans coat.  
“What are ye doin’ Nino”  
A squat man with a muttonchop beard was standing right behind Nino with his hand on the tall dark man’s shoulder  
“don’t go tearing sleeves yet, he gotta earn his place on tha crew”  
Nino frowned and looked at the squat man  
“Goodmorning Gibbs.”  
The muttonchopped man took a sip of a flask he kept around his neck hanging in a leather thread, he dropped it again, and it bounced a little on the taught string before hanging still around the middle of his stomach, he wiped his red brow with his newly freed hand and stifled a burp.  
“Captain wants you to go prepare those two kings-errand-boys for tha plank.”  
Nino released the shoulder fabric of Jonathan’s jacket with a huff and stepped backwards from him, he held his hands flat up towards Gibbs, who just cocked his head towards the brigg as Nino walked past him. Gibbs looked at Jonathan, then took the flask string over his head and held the flask out towards Jonathan, who took it and smelt the top suspiciously. It smelt strongly of spiced rum and he figured not the expensive kind. He took a sip mostly to be civil and tried hard to keep from cringing at the harsh taste, he handed the flask back to Gibbs who took another large sip, recorked the flask and hung it once again around his neck.   
Gibbs motioned for Jonathan to follow him and turned towards the stairs  
“Captains about to put a show on lad, come one”  
Jonathan hurried after Gibbs who walked quite slowly occasionally taking gulps of the flask, Gibbs climbed up the stairs clutching the rope that was hung to do the job of a bannister.

Jonathan blinked against the bright morning sun as he ascended to the deck. He could see the feet of his crewmates; their bodies steadily grew taller as he climbed further up the stairs, Gibbs was waiting just atop the stairs, hands on his sides:  
“Captain wants you up front mate, says you deserve a special spot”  
Jonathan couldn’t quite figure why but at those words a cold chill ran down his spine. Gibbs was already on his way to join the crowd and Jonathan stood gormlessly staring after him, he looked around trying to figure out where the front the Captain wanted him to be at was. He started pushing through the crowd towards the place they were all focusing on, eliciting various annoyed grunts and protests from the crew. He made it to the very front of the crown with a few of the men glaring after him, and more than one of the men behind him stepping at his heels and ‘accidentally’ bumping into him, a little harder than necessary.   
Teague stood at the front, right by the reeling, Jonathan looked at him awestruck, Teague was like a twisted aristocrat, he carried himself elegantly, the many rings and trinkets on his person reflected in the sun, making him seem like an ornate statue come to life, he held on hand over the pistol on his left hip and the other under his chin. Teague was talking to the woman from yesterday Quickdraw McFlemming who on one hip rested her hand, and on the other held a baby of about one with dark hair. The baby was wearing what Jonathan assumed had once been a beautiful long baptism gown, that was now torn just around the baby’s feet, on his dark haired head he wore a little red cloth in the same style Teague did, Jonathan guessed this must be baby Jack.   
Jack was looking at the crew with large eyes, one handed curled around the pistol belt McFlemming wore, Jonathan couldn’t hear anything over the loud voices of the crew, but he could see the little boy’s lips moving, Teague smiled and turned down towards the boy who smiled broader than his father and reached out for him, Jonathan felt a pang in his heart at the image of the fearsome pirate captain who allowed the baby to pull at his long moustache.

Suddenly the crew became silent, and Teague patted his son’s head before straightening up facing the crew again, Jonathan was pushed from both sides as the crew parted leaving a walkway down the middle, it was a pin-drop silence. Teague straightened completely, raising his chin slightly, Jonathan didn’t know it was possible for the captain to appear more attractive, and yet he did. Teague stared fixatedly at a spot by the end of the aisle created by the crewmembers, who were starting to get unruly again, the noise was growing amongst them like slow swell of a rising soufflé, when they grew to loud Teague raised his hand, which was heavy with rings, that glowed in the sun, and immediately the crew fell silent.   
Jonathan turned his head and craned his neck as far as he could to get a good look at what was going on. He couldn’t see very well but he recognised the bright red of the English navy coat drawing nearer, he gulped audibly as he saw two bound navy men with Nino walking stone faced with a gun pointed firmly at one of their backs, behind them drawing nearer, the crewmembers were laughing and shouting at them, they were pointing fingers and jeering, Teague did nothing to stop it now and allowed the crew to make as much noise as they wanted. Jonathan bit his bottom lip nervously as his two former comrades came closer. When the two passed him, he tried to avoid eye contact, but they both stared intently at him and at his red untorn coat. Nino brought the captives to a halt in front of the crowd who swiftly closed the aisle and went back to one mass.

Teague took a step forward, he smiled charmingly and raised his hands addressing the crew  
“Gents! Today we have a special show brought to ya by His Majesty’s Royal Navy”  
His gold teeth caught the sun and gleamed wildly as the crew erupted into uncontrolled cheers, they were yelling and shoving, pushing into Jonathan from both sides, their guns, knives, cutlasses, clubs and other weapons raised high above their heads, Jonathan tried to make himself as small as possible. Teague stretched his arms out and waved his hands against the crowd, as if to damper them, it worked, the crew settled down quickly and then once again all eyes were on Teague and the captives. Teague cleared his throat  
“Lads! These two men snuck aboard MY ship”  
The crowd roared angrily, Teague smiled and continued  
“They snuck about my ship, with the intention of bringin’ her into tha greedy hands o’ the English crown!”  
The crowd roared again and Teague’s smile only grew broader and colder  
“They think they can take what is rightfully mine!”  
The mood was rising, once again the crew were pushing against Jonathan who was starting to sweat, he wished he’d taken a larger sip of that cheap rum Gibbs had offered him, because he could really use something to calm his nerves. Teague made the same gesture with his hands raised he’d made before;  
“GENTS! WHAT DO WE DO WITH COMMON THIEVES AND SPIES?!”   
The crew erupted with noise;  
“LET THEM WALK THE PLANK!”  
“FEED THE FISHES!”  
“KEELHAUL THEM!”  
“SHOOT THEM AND CUT OUT THEIR TOUNGUES!”  
Teague who had been holding a hand theatrically to his right ear smirked and looked at the soldiers before once again addressing the crew  
“BY THE POWERS YE’RE RIGHT!”  
The crew cheered uproariously, Jonathan was beginning to feel nauseous, from the look of it his former comrades were looking a little green too. Jack wasn’t taking to the yelling kindly, and when the crew finally settled down he was crying loudly, Teague looked at him quickly, Quickdraw McFlemming was rocking up and down talking to him in a baby voice trying to get him to calm down, Teague’s eyes were briefly soft as he looked at the unsettled child, then he looked directly at the captured English soldiers, his eyes cold and hard. 

The crew was dead silent, it seemed there wasn’t a single noise on the entire ocean for miles and miles, except for Jacks now soft sniffles, Teague was looking hard into the eyes of one of the soldiers, who was looking defiantly back, the other had been staring at his shoes since they’d been brought from the brigg, and was now looking even harder at his shoes. Teague’s upper lip curled in disgust-   
“ye made me son cry”   
He said angrily, the crew booed, although more silently, Teague went on  
“the boy obviously knows an ugly kings dog when he sees one”  
Teague’s smile was unpleasantly cheerful now, telling Jonathan, the navy men, and the rest of the crew that he wasn’t really concerned about what scared his son, or if he was, he wasn’t letting them know. Jonathan swallowed hard as Teague took a step towards the captives;  
“now, I’m sure you fine lads recall when my crew was in a similar situation to yerselves, as ye might remember yer captain was one for long speeches and patriotism, now me, I be swifter.”  
The crew cheered again and Teague held his hand out, silencing them, he grinned wolfishly   
“So my lads, I shan’t bore you further with me jabbering.”  
He unsheathed his sword and pointed it against the back of the defiant soldier who since the beginning had been acting bravely, and cocked his head towards the plank:  
“take a walk soldier.”   
The soldier started walking with his head held high and his back straight, despite his nose stuck in the sky Jonathan could see a slight tremor in his shoulders, and his knees were uncomfortably stiff as if he was trying to keep them from knocking together. The soldier stepped onto the plank and walked down the length of it without saying a word, he stopped at the end, turned around and looked hard at the pirate crew, before jumping elegantly off it. A few seconds passed and then Jonathan (and everyone else) heard the splash, Jonathan felt chilled to his bones. 

Teague now pointed his sword towards the back of the scared one who had been keeping his eyes on the floor the entire time, the scared soldier was crying, his shoulders were shaking and snot and tears was dripping down on the deck in front of him. He started walking with shaky steps towards the plank, Teague’s sharp sword pointed straight at his back, if he walked forward he would fall and drown to death, if he didn’t he’d be stabbed like a kebab by the pirate captain’s sword, either way, he was doomed. He walked the plank attempting to keep his back as straight and proud as his unfortunate colleague, but failed completely to conceal the tremor in his entire body. He reached the end of the plank, and like his comrade, he turned to face the crowd, his tear stained red puffy eyes locked onto Jonathans, and Jonathan felt a deep sinking feeling as the scared soldier held his gaze and mouthed:   
“why?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woooo boi, did they die? idk did they? o_o


	7. Red foam on the white caps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan is attending the pirate version of a pta

“That should teach them huh cap’n? I doubt we’ll hear any trouble from that new navy lad, not after this.”   
Gibbs was running after Teague as he strode across the deck as authoritatively as a man holding a screaming baby possibly could, if Teague was honest he managed it quite well. Gibbs was a few paces behind him, taking fast almost running strides to catch up so he could walk, not beside Teague, but a half step behind him,   
“I should think so Master Gibbs,” Teague said without looking back,  
Gibbs who had caught up to the desired, half a step behind Teague, relaxed his paces and made a funny face at Jack, whose crying face was visible behind Teague’s slender right shoulder. Gibbs wiped his brow with the dirty handkerchief he kept in his left front pocket.   
“What be our headin cap’n?” he asked.  
He thought it smart to ask so he would have something to do before Teague decided Jack was being difficult and upon this realisation foisted him on Gibbs. It wasn’t that Gibbs didn’t like looking after Jack, especially when the boy was sleeping soundly, and Gibbs could get away with taking a taste of the ship’s ever dwindling rum rations. Teague made a sudden stop and turned to face Gibbs completely, his eyebrows were wrinkled in concentration and he was biting his lower lip in deep thought:  
“I’ve heard rumours of treasure untold on Isla Sirena, but that be dangerous water.”  
Gibbs nodded   
“aye, Mermaids, and sea-folk, they are a dangerous unpleasant acquaintanceship”  
Teague absentmindedly rocked Jack whose screams had quelled to discontent but soft cries, he looked away from Gibbs for a moment, thinking hard, finally after a few minutes he closed both eyes briefly and shifted his gaze back to Gibbs  
“Master Gibbs, put a course for the Pantano river”  
“Aye sir!” Gibbs yelled, he turned away from Teague to relay the Captain’s orders, when he was sure his back was turned, he cringed up his face, he’d much rather prefer murderous merfolk over the swirling mystical darkness that dwelled deep in that river.

Teague sighed heavily as he closed the door to his personal cabin behind him, he worked his coat of with some toil, as he was still carrying Jack, who had finally traded his discontent crying out for silently, and tiredly resting his head against Teague’s shoulder. Teague considered placing the boy in his crib, but Jack had a tight fistful of his shirt, and Teague took this as Jack’s way of telling him “no way mate.”  
So he carried the boy with him to the chart table, where he had been charting the course for Isla Sirena. He ardently shoved a carefully drawn and detailed map aside, and rummaged the left drawer in his desk for another one. The Pantano river was not a place easily found on a map, It was a small swampland marsh, its mystical inhabitant was not overly fond of visitors, so the river lay hidden in geographical blind spot. This was one of the places that could only be found by those who knew where it was, luckily Teague had been there more times in his adult life, and some when he was young and sailing under his mother, than he cared to count. Like any pirate captain worth his salt, Teague could find the Pantano River by the help of a compass alone.  
“All we need is a headin’ boy,” he mumbled.   
He stared at his compass, and chewed on the tips of his moustache, the needle was pointing stiffly north, he knew they weren’t far from the Isla Fortuna, and therefore not more than a few days sail from the Pantano River.   
He rose from the table and walked across his cabin to the window, where he carefully shifted the lace curtains that prevented his crew from looking in so he could see the deck. The crew was busy cleaning up after the morning’s fearsome display, the boy Jonathan was standing at the reeling looking down, the sun reflected off his mousy hair, and Teague caught himself pondering the true colour of Jonathan’s tresses. He elegantly let go of the curtain and carried Jack with him to the door, it was, as far as he could tell from the sun when he blinked against the clear blue sky as he stepped out on deck, at least an hour past noon. Jack had both his arms wrapped around Teague’s neck now and his little body was completely limp against Teague’s chest. 

Jonathan was staring intently at the azure blue water below, from the safety of the solid ship below him, the water looked calm and beautiful, softly gleaming in the strong sunlight, it was like the smooth surface of the water was cut from glass. However Jonathan couldn’t help but seeing the reaper in the clear serene water, he had been staring till he was cross eyed, lamenting the murder of his former comrades, they hadn’t deserved it he thought, they had simply been following orders.   
Jonathan jumped when he felt a hand settle gently on his shoulder, he whipped his head around and found he was staring directly into the amused eyes of Renegade Rob, Rob flashed him a toothy smile and withdrew his hand.  
“You will go mad staring at the sea like this, sailors have been known to see monsters and mermaids in these waters,” he said.  
Jonathan straightened his back so he was no longer leaning over the reeling and turned to Rob   
“It’s corpses and ghosts I’m looking for” he said sourly.  
Rob raised an eyebrow, Jonathan noticed a scar ran right through it,   
“You will go even madder then, there be no shortage of ghosts and corpses in these waters” Rob said seriously, “you mad yer friends got dropped?”  
Jonathan looked at him indignantly, his mouth hanging slightly open  
“they weren’t my friends, Rob, but yes, I suppose I do feel rather confused as to why the Captain had them killed.”  
Renegade Rob rubbed his chin for a second and then shrugged   
“The boy was here with them, he probably was just pissed ‘cause they could have hurt ‘im” Rob shifted his weight from one foot to the other, “got quite a temper the Captain has.”  
Jonathan cast a glance at the sea again, then back at Renegade Rob who was picking in his ear with a dirty finger, Jonathan cringed.   
“Jonathan” Nino’s soft voice called from somewhere behind Rob  
The tall dark man approached hastily, whilst still pertaining his gliding control, he reached Renegade Robs side  
“The captain wants you” Nino pointed with his thumb over his shoulder towards Teague, who was standing in front of the rudder, his back was turned against them, He was carrying Jack who was resting his head on Teague’s shoulder, his cheek was squished and he stared straight at Jonathan and the two others.

Teague could feel Jacks drool as a wet spot on his shoulder, where Jack was resting his head, he rocked Jack gently and yawned, both he and Jack were tired from a long night, and considering that it was only noon Teague wondered if he should retire to his cabin once more for a, so-called catnap. However, he couldn’t very well take a nap right now, he’d just called for James, or Jonas or Jasper or whatever the navy lad, he had picked up on the HMS Bodacious was called again. He need to gauge the boy’s loyalty, all things considered he’d just murdered two of his former comrades right in front of the boy’s nose, the boy was no pirate, and Teague thought it likely that this might not only sway his fledgling devotion to Teague, his crew, and an eventual life of piracy for the boy, but also plant dangerous, mutinous thoughts in his confused little head.  
Teague was brought from his musings, when the nervous voice of the object of his musings, spoke from behind his back:  
“You wanted me Captain?”  
Teague turned around elegantly on his heels, and regarded Jonathan pensively   
“Aye.” –  
He said shifting Jacks weight on his arm, causing the boy to blink lazily:  
“You looking fer mermaids there lad?”  
Teague cocked his head towards the reeling where Jonathan had been standing, Nino and Renegade Rob where still there, deep in conversation, Jonathan followed Teague’s motion with his eyes and then stared hard at his boots:  
“No Captain.” He said quietly “I was pondering the demise of my former comrades.”  
Teague cocked an eyebrow at the sincere honesty of the boy, he pondered when the last time someone had spoken to him with complete honesty, and no hidden motive.   
He found he had to think all the way back to his boyhood, where his mother had threatened to hang him from the topsails, with such conviction that he had had no doubt in his young mind that she was completely serious in her threat.   
Teague chased the memory from his mind and returned his attention to the boy, who was still staring at his boots.   
“They had to walk the plank” Teague said seriously, “You will understand when you are a father yourself,” –  
Jonathan looked up from his shoes into Teague’s face, and found an expression he had not expected on the Captains striking features, Teague’s brow was furrowed in a concerned pensive expression, he sucked on his lower lip and looked earnestly at Jonathan. –  
“under other circumstances I might have simply tossed them in the brig until they joined the crew or escaped,”   
-Teague looked at the sea, then back at Jonathan-  
“but with Jack here it’s different.”  
He did not elaborate, He assumed Jonathan would piece together some explanation of a doting caring father who’d been scared for his son’s life, and thus had acted rashly and dramatically.   
Teague had been lying, obviously, he had been scared for Jack’s life, but even if Jack hadn’t been aboard he probably would have killed them, it took a lot of spilt blood to keep the crew sated, considering the rough treatment that passed for guest freeness aboard the HMS Bodacious, it was only natural his men would be looking for some shade of revenge following such an ordeal.   
Jonathan didn’t reply for a while, Teague respectfully let him digest his lie. The cogs in the boy’s mind obviously churning, he swallowed and licked his lips, Teague who had put on a serious stony expression, couldn’t help but feel secretly amused.  
“I suppose, I still don’t agree with or understand you actions from earlier.”   
He finally said, his eyes darted from side to side and he continued -  
“but, I suppose, you did what you felt you had to, I ….. ” Jonathan trailed off.

Teague nodded and placed a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder, to show the boy he wasn’t angry with him for disagreeing with him, Jonathan was used to life in the navy, where disagreements with the Captain might prove fatal, but a life with pirates was different, despite their mangy appearance and their disregard for most established law, they lived in strict adherence to the Pirate Code, especially on Teague’s ship as he was tasked with keeping it safe, a task he had momentarily left to his dear ma, home in Shipwreck Cove. The Pirate Code detailed a Pirate’s yearning for freedom and his need to choose for himself.   
Therefore, Teague would never punish a crew member for disagreeing with him, though he might exercise his right to choose for himself and kick them off his ship. Teague removed his hand from Jonathan’s should and casually pointed towards the stairs that led below deck.  
“you’re dismissed lad, go get a bucket of water and some soap suds, and help the other lads clean the deck.” He said  
Jonathan stood up arrow straight, Teague once again felt amused as it seemed Jonathan was fighting back a salute.  
“Aye Sir!”  
Jonathan said and ran off towards the stairs. 

Teague stroked Jacks head and scoured the deck for Gibbs, he spotted him just below the mast that held the crow’s nest, Teague gingerly fished his compass from his coat pocket and checked the course, he then walked purposefully towards Gibbs broad back. He finally had the Heading for the Pantano River.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this one, I've been not only busy but also been struggilng with a serious writer's block -_-'' 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> OBS I'm graduating on Tuesday and therefore I will have very little writing time (most of my week will be spent drunk as hell haha but I expect a new chapter will be up soon, please har patience) 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> This work is complete self indulgence for, me as I simply love potc, and I'm so excited for the franchise TO GROW EVEN BIGGER on may 24th!!! this work is NOT beta'd so error probably will occur. I hope you enjoyed reading and please consider leaving a comment :D!
> 
> Find me on twitter @ao3MAGICCLOSER


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